- "All of the world is an adventure."These were the words of the greatest treasure hunter, Gamrius VI.
The last game ever released for a Nintendo console by Squaresoft before merging with Enix (and developed by Sting Entertainment), Treasure Hunter G is a 1996 Turn-Based Strategy that few people know because it was never released outside Japan. Despite its obscurity, the game had a surprisingly high budget with both an excellent soundtrack and early Mode 7 3D graphics which allowed for claymation-esque sprites that actually looked better than many early PS1 games.
The story is simple: Our heroes are two brothers (Red and Blue), a girl (Rain) and a monkey (Ponga), who have to stop the nefarious Dark Lord from resurrecting Bone Dino because... something! The game's main appeal comes from its battle system, which combines Turn-Based Combat with a certain level of strategy, and unique implementation of items and trap spells.
Incidentally, the game has also been made available for download on the Wii's Virtual Console service... but once again, only in Japan. That's right, No Download for You.
Tropes Featured:
- Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: Averted. The cost of items fluctuates depending on how rare they would be in that area. For example, items from the forest will be much more expensive in castle cities to buy or sell. This is actually how you make money in the game, since enemies don't drop cash upon defeat: Buy items where they're cheap (or find them in dungeons) and sell them where they are expensive.
- Funny Animal: The animals in the Neko Forest (the Atlanteans).
- Booby Trap: Blue's specialty. A few enemies use them as well.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Dark Lord; his name is Dark Lord.
- Colourful Theme Naming: Red and Blue's family also includes their father, Brown G., and their grandfather, Silver G.
- Crystal Prison: Dark Lord attempts to seal the six fairies in this. It does not prevent them from possession or using Exposition Beam, though.
- Disappeared Dad: Brown is generally considered a deadbeat due to spending all of his time exploring the world while his kids are raised by their grandfather.
- Doomed Hometown: Sort of; the town gets burnt down for no particular reason, but the villagers start repairing it later. Besides, they were already going to leave anyway, although the town-burning definitely clinched it for them.
- Establishing Character Moment: Blue enters crying over a nightmare. Later revealed that he was Dreaming of Things to Come.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: Ponga uses this kind of magic.
- Friend to All Living Things: Rain, even going so far as to be able to speak with plants and animals.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Not just the bosses but quite a few random encounters as well. Where are all those enemies hiding?
- Guide Dang It!: Quite a few puzzles. For instance, one features a carving of a humanoid with instructions to "tickle" his feet and then tap him on the shoulder. What you actually have to do is examine the foot, then jump through a hole for no apparent reason, then touch his hand. A faulty translation is to blame.
- Insistent Terminology: The world's last mad scientist, Dr. Hello!
- Large and in Charge: Dark Lord is huuuuuuge. He positively towers over even his already larger than normal henchmen!
- Lilliputians: The Carbukkles in Carbukkle Island. They're about the same size as the various bee enemies found throughout the game.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: The weakest monster in the game is a threat to Lilliputians.
- Old Soldier: Silver G. kicks far more ass than you at the beginning of the game.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted in the original: G. Red (Red-G) and J. Red (J-Elf).
- One-Winged Angel:
- Dark Lord. More like an inverted Heroic Second Wind, since he did this by The Power of Love.
- Fenril, one of the Dark Lord's henchmen, turns into a hulking werewolf with lightning powers once his HP is depleted.
- Plot Coupon That Does Something: Each of the OPARTS has a special effect.
- Rewarding Vandalism: One of the game's most notable aspects. From breaking pots to punching out plants, you are rewarded with various things, including but not limited to: accessories, armors, boots, consumable items, Giv (the game's currency), status increasing items, weapons, and monster encounters.
- Royally Screwed Up: Queen Charlene cannot believe that her son is dead.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Dark Lord.
- Talking Animal: The whale and the turtle.
- The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: Dark Tower, located at the top of the World Tree.
